Chapter Seven #2
Gideon nodded. “He sat in his carriage for hours waiting for you even after Melton had instructed him you were not at home. Who in his right mind would sit there drinking and no doubt stewing in anger when he had clearly been sent away? I cannot trust him or his motives. Will you promise me to be careful, especially when around him or his friends?”
She nodded. “All right.”
He strode away before he gave in to the urge to kiss her, an urge that struck every time she looked up at him with her big green eyes.
Berry also had the sweetest lips, sweet as cherries. They beckoned him, but were they not as dangerous as a siren’s call to lure a man onto the rocky straits and drown him?
He returned to his club, eager to drown himself in work and stop thinking about Berry.
Henry was nowhere in sight when he arrived, so Gideon sent Pudge off to look for him. “He’s probably hiding in the larder or the wine cellar. Bring him up to my office when you do find him.”
“Right away,” Pudge said, and hurried off.
Pudge was another orphan Gideon had taken in about ten years ago when this club was newly established, a shy boy who was heavyset and a little clumsy on his feet.
But he was honest and hardworking. As he shot up in height, growing as big as an oak tree and maintaining his heft as well as developing muscles, he became a daunting figure on the gaming floor. No one was going to challenge Pudge.
Jasmine approached Gideon as he started upstairs. He frowned, for he had work to do and did not look forward to dealing with her petulance.
“Gideon, I need a moment of your time.”
Joss was nowhere in sight, so Gideon could not pretend he had an urgent problem at the club to address with him. He sighed, knowing there was no way out of talking to Jasmine.
“Come into my office.”
She ran her hand lightly along his arm. “We could be more private in your bedchamber.”
“No, that is over and done.”
“Are you certain?” She cast him a seductive look, then took his hand and placed it on her breast. “Isn’t this better?”
“No,” he repeated sternly, drawing away from her. “If this is all you want, Jasmine, then go use your charms on someone else.”
She slapped him. “Beast!”
He caught her hand when she attempted to slap him again.
“Try that again and I’ll ban you from the club permanently.
What are you doing here? Did you not just find yourself a new benefactor?
The Marquess of Haverstock is a decent fellow.
He honors his debts and is a gentleman. Did he buy you that necklace? ”
“Yes.” She tossed him a petulant look. “But he isn’t you.”
“Be grateful for it. I would never be as nice to you as he will be.”
“Who’s your new partridge?”
“I don’t have one. But what I do have is a lot of work. If you will excuse me.”
He started up the stairs and had gotten halfway up when she blurted out Berry’s name. “Lord Hawthorne saw you with her the other night at the Denby Arms.”
He paused and turned back to her. “Keep away from that fellow. He’s trouble.”
She tipped her chin up in defiance. “He’s a viscount.”
“Jasmine, do not embroil yourself with him. He is deeply in debt and getting desperate now that his family has refused to step forward and help him out. Guard those jewels you’ve worked so hard to acquire, because he won’t hesitate to steal them from you.”
She followed him into his office. “Haverstock will never marry me.”
“I know,” he said gently, for he resented these barriers imposed by the ton. “But he will be generous with you and leave you well protected for the future.”
Since she was still in a snit, she cast him a cruel smile. “Nor will the lofty Lady Berengaria ever have you.”
He knew this only too well. “What is your point?”
“You and I make a good team. We could make a go of it. And if you wanted Chloe to join us in bed, I would not mind. Nor would I mind your seducing the proud Berengaria. In fact, I would find it quite amusing. Do you think she would join us? Or mind my watching the two of you?”
Bloody blazes, was this what she thought he wanted out of life? To defile Berry, the most worthwhile lady he had ever met?
“We could never make a go of it, Jasmine. As for Lady Berengaria, just look around you. Every one of us is here and making a living, given a chance at a decent life because of her and her family. And you think I would repay her by ruining her?”
He shook his head and grunted. “I don’t care that you or Chloe chose to lead the life of courtesans when a more respectable path was offered to you.
What I do care about is your lack of character.
You are loyal only to yourself. You have no appreciation for those who go out of their way to help you.
You think they are fools to be used and manipulated.
Do you want a man to love and respect you?
Then try loving and respecting him. Just don’t waste that effort on me. ”
“Here’s my respect for you!” She picked up a vase and tossed it at his head.
He stepped aside and it smashed against the wall. “Go away, Jasmine. Leave me alone and let me work.”
She stormed off.
Gideon sighed. Just what he needed.
More trouble.